Opening Frontpage Express:

Frontpage Express users do not need Frontpage Extensions because those extensions don't effect FP Express website creation. The extensions allow FP2000 and FP98 users to edit their websites directly on their ISP's Web server computers. Frontpage Express doesn't have that capability. You save your FP Express content to your computer at home or work. You then use an FTP utility such as CuteFTP or FTP Voyager to "upload" or transfer that Web content to your website folder on our ISP's Web server. If you later make changes to that Web content then you will need to upload the revised page with an ftp program. Click here if you need FTP setup instructions.

You can use both the edit menu and the insert menu to create "hyperlinks" to other Web pages or to send an automated e-mail to a designated address. The creation of hyperlinks is covered in the edit menu section but the same material applies to the insert menu as well.

You can open Frontpage Express by choosing the Start button -> Programs -> Frontpage Express or by finding the Frontpage Express icon in the Programs folder on your C: drive.

Creating Website Material:

You can create a new Web page by clicking on the file menu and choosing "new" or by clicking on the icon. You then click in the body of the window (shown below) and type in text, insert pictures, etc. Choose the "save" option in the file menu to save the Web page(s). This will save the content somewhere on your own computer. (Make sure that you pay attention to where that content is saved.) You can then use an FTP (file transfer protocol) utility such as CuteFTP or FTP Voyager to upload that Web material to your ISP's Web server.

That is the basics for Frontpage Express. Each of the various menu options will be covered below.

File Menu Options: The file menu options are pictured below. The most commonly used options are "new" to create another Web page, "save" or "save as" to save a current Web page and "page properties" to define the page title and hyperlink colors.

The "page properties" options are pictured below starting in the general tab. Name the page in the title box. This is the name that will be seen at the top of Internet Explorer or Netscape when people go to that Web page.

The background tab options are shown below. You can put a background image inside the Web page by placing a checkmark in the "background image" box. Use the "browse" button to locate the image.

You also use this window to set a background color and text color as well as the colors of hyperlinks on your Web page.

Edit Menu Options & Hyperlink Creation:  The edit menu has the standard "cut & paste" options. It also has options for creating a "bookmark" (internal hyperlink) or a regular external hyperlink to other Web pages in your website or across the World Wide Web. You can also create an e-mail hyperlink which automatically sends an e-mail to a designated address.

The "create hyperlink" window is shown below in the "world wide Web" tab. Click the drop down arrow to choose between a http: website link or a "mailto:" e-mail link. Don't worry about the "https:" or "news:" link unless you're an expert Web designer.

You can create a link to a page that hasn't been created, yet, by going to the "new page" tab shown below. Name the "page title" and Frontpage will automatically provide a "page URL" for you. You can change that or leave it the same. If it is your website's home page then be sure to name that page index.html (not .htm, .asp, etc.). You can use a .htm, .html or .asp extension for every other page on your website but the home page must be named index.html.

Insert Menu Options:  The insert menu has a variety of options for inserting formatting, pictures, hyperlinks, videos, java applets, etc. Click here for details on how to configure a new hyperlink. You also use the "edit" menu to change already existing hyperlinks.

Format Menu Options:  The format menu is where you can set fonts, paragraph settings, bullets and numbering. You can also set the page's background.

The general tab of the background settings is pictured below. Name the page in the title box. This is what people will see at the top of Internet Explorer or Netscape when they visit your website.

The background tab is pictured below. You can set a background image, background color, text color and hyperlink colors in this window.

Tools Menu Options: The tools menu gives you some font options as well as the ability to follow a hyperlink to make sure that the link is going to the right place.

Table Menu Options: The table menu gives you the ability to create and edit tables in your website.

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